Proposals from the Trump administration to limit the scope of wildlife protections by changing the definition of a single word advanced Tuesday through a White House review.
The proposals from the Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA hinge on the meaning of the word “harm” found in the landmark Endangered Species Act.
The law prohibits harm and other injury to protected wildlife. Republican and Democratic administrations for decades have defined the term to encompass significant destruction of a species’ habitat. That interpretation was upheld in a 1995 Supreme Court ruling.
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But under the Trump administration, wildlife agencies have proposed to narrow the interpretation of “harm” in the law and exclude habitat destruction from its reach.
